Datum:
BIOAGRO / LIFE
  LIFE, the Financial Instrument for the Environment 		 
 Home
Background
Pelletizing
Raw Material
 The Project
 Equipment investment
 Schedule
 Expected results
 Partner

 Other news
 Picture gallery
Study visits


Serious Cereal Heating
Rising prices for electricity and oil have made that these kinds of energy sourses no longer are economical for heating small houses. Bioenergy in the form of logs, chips and pellets is taking more and more of the market share. In Sweden 25% of the entire energy comes from biomass.
It is a large resource that we just have started to use, and that is the energy from agricultural land.  In Sweden there is an excess of 1 million tonnes of grain, and if the straw is included and also if the current fallow fields are utilized, we could produce a further more of  20TWh bioenergy without decreasing the food production. If we were to use this to replace oil products the reduction in carbon dioxide would correspond to 5.5 million tonnes or 10% of Sweden’s commitment to the Kyoto agreement.
A similar overproduction occurs all over Europe, and this overproduction costs the EU massively in the form of subventions to agriculture.  As the very large and fertile agricultural areas in Belarus and Ukraine could produce all the cereals that Europe needs, it is easy to see that agricultural crops could be used for energy production in the near future.
Problems are dust and corrosion
We and other research teams can provide results in co-operation with the managers of Swedish agricultural companies, and we have identified a number of problems related to the combustion of grain. Results from the latest experience of combustions with agricultural products, ie the production of nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide and chlorhydric acid in the flue is a larger problem than unburned hydrocarbons. The concentration of acid products formed is 10 - 15 times greater than that from wood pellet equipment.

The condensation from grain firing contains corrosive chemicals including sulphates, chloride, nitrates and other organic acids, such as vinegar acid, formic acid and others.  If this flue gas is allowed to condense, heavy corrosion will occur in all kind of metals, and not even stainless steel can withstand this acid attack. To prevent the condensation of sulphuric acid the boiler has to be operated at a high temperature and with a flue gas temperature over 160 degrees at the top of the chimney.  If possible, chimneys should be constructed of ceramic materials.
Rising prices for electricity and oil have made that these kinds of energy are no longer economic for heating small houses.
The condensation from grain firing contains corrosive chemicals including sulphates, chloride, nitrates and other organic acids such as vinegar acid, formic acid and others. If this flue gas is allowed to condense, heavy corrosion will occur in all kind of metals, and not even stainless steel can withstand this acid attack.

However, a high flue gas temperature is not a long-term solution; most of the corrosion damage can be avoided but the problem becomes one of the environmental pollution problems instead.

The more sulphur compounds in the atmosphere, the greater the problem with acidification. We can certainly expect stricter environmental regulations in the future. It may seem counterproductive to make pellets from grain, especially as grain corn is like a natural pellet in it self, but the more we have worked with grain pellets, the more we are convinced that pelletizing is a faster way to create a good burning result for grain. At the same time a better fuel is created, and ingredients can be added which reduce corrosion and environmental pollution. To use agricultural material as a base for a new special design pellet is a logical development.
Especially because there is a massive surplus stock of raw material, at the same time there is a spare production capacity within existing fodder pellet plants.  This implies that the most investments have already been made in the fodder manufacturing industry, and that you as fodder pellet manufacturers, also control the logistics from field to end users.  We can also add straw and other agriculture waste to the pellet to create a new commercially viable biofuel from the outset.  Alternatively, some farmers could co-operate to produce grain pellets locally in a small pellet mill close to the end users.


 
© BIOAGRO Life 2007     www.bioagrolife.com
Skånefrö AB |  Storgatan 1, 272 93 TOMMARP  |  Tel: 0414 - 412 500  |  Fax: 0414 - 201 40